There is no question that the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is creating unrivalled choice within the Disability Services Sector of support service providers for consumers and participants of the program. But for many people that have not been exposed to such a choice in the past, the question is, how do you find the right provider for you?

To help you on this journey, we’ve put together this list of 5 questions you should ask before selecting the right provider for your needs.

1. What is the organisation’s vision, mission and values?

A company’s vision sets out their view of what type of organisation they want to be. This gives you insight into what the organisation will be in the long term.

The organisation’s mission is what they are doing right now towards that vision.

And the organisation’s values outline how their mission and vision are to be achieved, what the organisation stands for and how they run their business.

2. What types of services does the companyprovide?

Not every disability services organisation will be able to supply all the services funded to you within your NDIS plan. However, you may not always want to get all supports from one provider. You may also find that while certain values, mission or vision of an organisation resonate with you, they may be unable to supply the types of services you are looking for.

3. What is the provider’s recruitment and quality policies for their support staff?

Depending on the types of services you are seeking from an organisation, the support staff will generally interact in your home or residence in a very personal way. Therefore, you want to be assured that the organisation has strict policies and practices in place for the recruitment and management of their support staff.

It’s important that beyond all legislative requirements, organisations have strong policies in place for checking, auditing and reviewing, especially in regards to references, National Police checks and Working With Children Checks. Support Workers often work with more than one employer, so although organisations might have strong recruitment policies, it’s important that ongoing work records with multiple employers are monitored and managed.

4. What is the organisation’s feedback and complaints system?

The nature of the industry means that you will be working with and be supported by people. Inevitably, there will be times when you want to provide feedback or have an issue which needs addressing. Therefore, it is important to understand what practices the organisation follows in this regard.

Things like anonymous feedback (either by phone or online) as well as strong investigation policies are important to ensure that you feel comfortable in providing feedback. Such policies will also give you an indication about how previous complaints have been handled, which might give you some comfort in knowing that the staff being provided to you are of the best quality.

5. What is the company’s onboarding and ongoing coordination procedure?

How an organisation treats you from the outset is important. The NDIS is all about getting you what you need to live the life you want, and it’s important that the organisation understands this and works in this manner. You should not feel pressured to agree to supports you don’t need, you should fully understand how the organisation will help you achieve your goals; and above all else, understand how supports will be delivered.

It’s important to remember that your NDIS plan is individual to you and how it’s delivered needs to be equally tailored to your needs. Beyond the onboarding process, the organisation should have a clear procedure in place to monitor and manage ongoing coordination in a person-centred manner. As the industry changes from a package focused group system, organisations need to change to become customer-focused and most organisations have outlined clear practices that you can expect.

At HCA Home & Community, weadopt a person centred approach in service delivery and work closely with our Participants to identify, develop and achieve their personal goals. We acknowledge that each person’s goals are different, so our dedicated team work side by side with our Participants, their family and advocates in a collaborative approach to seek out and deliver best possible outcomes for an inclusive and fulfilling lifestyle. We’re here to help you every step of the way. Don’t take our word for it, get your free consultation today and decide for yourself!

Call us on 1300 HCA NDIS (1300 422 634)to find out more.